I refer to Veldtcornet Thring, who had arrived with me at Kroonstad that morning, but who had suddenly fallen ill.

On the day following he was a prisoner in the hands of the English.
Thring was an honourable man in every way.

Although an Englishman by birth, he was at heart an Afrikander, for he had accepted the Orange Free State as his second fatherland.

Like many another Englishman, he had become a fellow-citizen of ours, and had enjoyed the fat of the land.

But now, trusty burgher that he was, he had drawn his sword to defend the burghers' rights.
His earliest experiences were with the Kroonstad burghers, who went down into Natal; later on he fought under me at Sanna's Post and Mostertshoek, and took part in the siege of Colonel Dalgety at Jammersbergsdrift.